Fan Reaction To Warriors Trade For David Lee

David Lee is probably the biggest Warriors’ FA signing…ever, but that’s not the point. Sure it is an improvement right now, we should have more wins than last year and we have a legitimate rebounding body right now, but it isn’t the most logical fix.

It’s my opinion that the Warriors needed to start looking at alternative directions for the team. After last year, the team became less about building around Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins (which many, including myself, argued for a couple years ago) and more about building around Steph Curry and the potential of Anthony Randolph.

The biggest deficiency in Warriors basketball is defense. It’s non-existent. Sure, our offense hits a high gear every once in a while and we have a single, or a string of, good games, but I think we all know very well that it won’t get the team very far (see 2006 playoffs). Signing a guy like David Lee who doesn’t really play a lick of defense is not addressing this very, very large concern. What he does, he does very well. He’ll get you some points, he’ll crash the boards, and he’ll run a pick-and-roll. He has defensive capability, but we don’t see it. Not the right move, Riley.

With the expectation of new ownership coming into town soon, meaning a new front office and new coaching, it is in the best interest of the fans that we give the “new” team as much flexibility as possible. Although Nelson and Riley might as well mail it in, that doesn’t mean go out there and continue the typical Warriors less-than-logical moves.

I know that this is just my opinion and several of you probably disagree, it was my dream scenario that the Warriors would stick with Steph Curry, Anthony Morrow (if we could get him to stick around), Anthony Randolph, Brandan Wright, and Ronny Turiaf. In the mean time, make the best of Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins. If they were a legitimate fit on this vision of the future, then go for it. If not, then send them out for young, cheap talent to go along with short (read: 1-year remaining), large contracts.

A year from now, that possibly meant a new owner: Larry Ellison. A new GM: Jerry West, Kevin Pritchard, or at least someone competent with a halfway decent track record. A new coach. And a roster consisting the aforementioned Stephen Curry, Anthony Randolph, Brandan Wright, Ronny Turiaf, hopefully Anthony Morrow, a flurry of expiring contracts, and maybe some young talent go to along with it. Sure the CBA is being re-written and this year was the year of free-agents, but the point is the Warriors would have a great deal of flexibility under a new ruler.

That’s what I feel should be in the best interest of fans. We need a totally new movement when the new owner comes around, and we’re putting a longer time-table on a redefined team with contracts like these. At best, we’re putting ourselves onto the road to no-man’s land. We could add some more talent and be a .500 team, not making the playoffs, and not getting a great pick. Not the goal of a basketball team. We should take note of the work by Sam Presti and Kevin Pritchard. Making smart moves to go with youth, stack up draft picks, scout well, and build a brighter future. Right now, the only thing keeping me sane is the wallet of the very well connected Larry Ellison, Stephen Curry, and the light, although not very bright, of the not-so-close future.

20 Responses

I think this was a smart move to aquire David Lee. Giving up on the potential of Randolph was tough but David Lee is as consistent as they come. His rebounding and his offensive skill set are really good. He is bar none the best finisher around the rim in the league, and with him and Curry in the pick and roll it will be the best in the game. Defense is atrocious at best, but he has improved his game every year in the league.h opefully he focus more on the defensive side because he has the talent to be a pretty good defensive player. I personally believe he faces far to much unfair criticsm, but he is nails and a great player.

Hello I’m a knicks fan and wrote on another article as well. I’m very very upset that the knicks did this trade. You guys got a gem with lee at good value i’m telling you good value. hes definitely better than stoudemire the knicks are going to regret getting rid of lee. the guy has good core values and plays his butt of every night. he’s going to average at least 23 12 and 4 for you guys for the next several years. warriors fans give lee a shot at least half a seasons worth then judge all you want. hes gona make your team a respectable squad and i believe i might have to catch a few more warriors games now. curry and lee could become a very respectable duo. i agree with nellie as well get the guy outta town as well as dantoni why do teams hire coaches who don’t teach defense? it’s mind boggling defense wins championships everyone knows that. anyway good luck warriors fans you guys just got a true winner who is a great character as well. I know i’m definitely not the only knicks fan whos upset to lose him to appreciate him i know you guys will!

David Lee has always been one of those players you wish you had on your team. I agree with most others that Randolph was still a work in progress, and his attitude with Donny sucked, but has tremendous upside. Like it or not, he and his agent expressed their desire to leave GS.

The only thing I dont like about this trade is you gotta keep either Buike or Morrow, i don’t know who this Reggie Smith guy is, seems young, though he had a couple of good games last season in some throw-away games. Management must know something I dont (ya right), my concern is not having a legitimate SF. Finally, the Warriors could use Magette and they trade him for Gadzuric and Bell?!? WTF.

We can’t win with this team without a legitimate SF. Too many guys like Ariza, Kobe, J.Howard, Duncan, Roy, for the Warriors to cover. This will be along season unless we pick up an athletic guy like SJAX again.

Randolph will be a poor man’s Odom. If he is on a team with a superstar and all expectations are off then he’ll be OK. BTW Amare is not a superstar. Any other situation he’ll dazzle one or two games and disappear for a week. Look at the Warriors tapes. Odom does that even with KOBE!!! Lee is a legit 4 having played center for NY now he’ll feast at the PF spot and with D Wright from Miami we’ll have the 3 and 4 played by legit players not tweeners. I don’t like the contract but we have to overpay until we can become legit place for FA. Let’s try to string 2 or 3 seasons together with a descent team and have reasonable expectations.

I wonder why half the comments here consist of dumping Ellis, r u guys in tandem with Warriors management. Standard GS to trade away quality players, and most of the comments aren’t even expecting anything good back? Ellis doesn’t fit real well with Curry, but honestly, jettisoning him out of town for scraps would be a huge blow. The kid is young and has talent. It would be hard to get value for him back without having packaged him with Randolph. Even though he is the second most talented player on the team, I feel like bringing in a solid two (pref. 6’6″) that can drive and play D to start and bringing Monta off the bench would make the squad much better. I could be tripping, but its a better idea than sending him off for nothing and, unless we get a lockdown SF and consistent weakside help/shotblocking from Biedrins, Ellis and Curry will not be able to win together. I like the Lee trade based on his ability to play pick and roll and rebound. Randolph could be good down the line, but he could also fade into obscurity or have an injury riddled career and I don’t ever see him averaging 20 pts/game. I will take Lee any day over that, dude is a beast. Think about what he did last year in New York without a quality PG and then think of him on GS, he could be in line for 25 and 12. Once Nelson gets booted and we bring in some solid management, the squad could be good. Who am I kidding though, it is the Warriors, we’ll probably hire Isaiah Thomas as GM/President of Basketball Operations and handpick USC head coach Kevin O’Neil to be the next coach. Oh well, at least we’ll have a fun team to watch this year.

I personally love the trade. Lee will help us in a HUGE amount on the boards were we were dead last in the nba last year. Bukie was a really good player and will be a great role player for the knicks as he was for us. But for an allstar like Lee ill give him up. randolph.. the sky is the limit for him if he just gets his act together and works harder on his game. But i wasnt really willing to wait on him, hes a huge make or bust. And Turiafs energy and the way he pumped up the team will be missed but hes also worth getting rid of for Lee. Curry, Monta, and Lee. all have allstar potential and are all in their mid to young 20s. We also have beidrens who averaged a double double two years ago and with Lee im sure his play will be even better.

i dont get why people are hating on this we got an all start big man he is one of three players that went 20-10. he is a proven player that will be great with a good point guard in steph curry. i personally like the move. i think people need to get off randolph nuts he had a good one summer league season against summer league talent lee has proven him self. i also feel that he is gonna make biedrins better by a couple easy dunks a game because lee will require double teams down low and is unselfish with the ball.

The Warriors traded unknown quantities for a known quantity — it’s that simple. The only bad thing about the trade at this point is that, as usual under Don Nelson, the unknown quantities weren’t given sufficient time to find out just what they could become. I’m actually most upset about Azubuikie, since I’m not sure what Randolph will become at this point, being so hard to judge a player’s true ceiling under Nelson’s system. Turiaf I don’t mourn, as much as I wanted him here for his spirit, the truth is Turiaf had a lot of trouble finishing around the basket, and his one big talent, shotblocking, left him out of rebounding position…which, of course, the Warriors couldn’t afford.

The keys to this trade, at this point, is Brandan Wright and Andris Beidrins. If Wright can manage to keep himself uninjured and can develop a game out to about 18 ft. from the basket, it will help tremendously. Beidrins “simply” has to be what he was in the 2008-2009 season.

Couple of big ifs, sure, but Randolph is still a big if on his own. The main reason I don’t like the trade is because of Azubuike and the loss of his utility (it probably means more time for Morrow, but that’s not necessarily a good thing given his shortcomings). I’d rather not have lost Randolph, but I’ll hold out hope Wright will benefit.

David Lee doesn’t play a lick of defense? Somebody should have told the people who voted David Lee for ‘Defensive Player of the Year’ last season. / SARCASM.

What David Lee lacks in athleticism, he makes up for in technique. The reason why he has received ‘Defensive Player of the Year’ votes is because of his ability to put himself in the position to grab any rebound available. For a Warriors team that was massively out-rebounded last season, David Lee is the IDEAL acquisition.

David Lee and Epke Udoh are apart of the plan to build a stronger defensive team around Stephen Curry. While Lee may not be the shot blocker the Warriors have been looking for, Udoh and Biedrins can help fill the void.

IF Stephen Curry is Steve Nash incarnate, the Warriors just made the best signing in David Lee — a board monster who can also run the floor.

@ ishwarrior- you bring up some very solid points, and i like the way you view the warriors team however, only to a certain extent. See what gets me is how people try to downplay the value of monta ellis. This has been killing me ever since i saw this young man come in to the league. To say that monta should not be around any long would simply mean that we would rid our team of their best overall player. Monta, unlike curry, plays great defense consistently. He gets steals like none other and is quick. What is missing in the warriors team is a consistent roster man. I mean every year we have so many injuries, etc that we tend tyo be a whole new team the next year. What needs to happen, in mty opinion is the warriors need to play with what they have and sticjk with it. Enough wining, trying to change and complaining and go forth. That is the way a real strong team is made. Lee is going to rebound, that is what we lacked last year. Turiaf did play better defense but for some unkown reason could not rebound. Lee does that. This new rookie will bring some defense in and if beidrins stays healthy he can help as well, and do not forget the guy that made you crap your pants in shock anthony tolliver. this team will be fine with what we got. I mean, sure we could get better but we needs to build with the pieces we have. WE NEED TO GET RID OF DON NELSON. then things will really pick up.

just wondering, what you think the starting lineup will be this year?
it looks like this to me
1) stephen curry
2) monta ellis
3) anthony morrow?
4) david lee
5) andris beidrins

I disagree and for the first time since the Baron trade, I feel like the Warriors made a decent move. Do I think they are going to win the Championship, No. Do I think they improved the team, Yes. What people are not talking about is the fact that the Knicks took on 10 million in our contracts. We increased our payroll by 3 million and got a guy who was only one of two players in the league to average 20 and 10. Randolph had a bunch of red flags that unfortunately will probably keep him from realizing his full potential. I will enjoy watching this team much more than last year’s team. That’s the first time in years that I can say that about the Warriors.

Love the trade. Love it. Randolph showed me enough to know that he’d never be a consistent player. He couldn’t get the job done day in and day out. he’ll probably have a few days down the road that make Warrior fans wish he was a Warrior that night – but I don’t think he is going to be a star. Lee is a star – and is incredibly consistent.

When I look at this team and the next decade, I see Lee and Curry as the centerpieces. Ellis and Biedrins are interesting accent pieces, but I’d rather see them deal Ellis for a SF/C that is more efficient and Biedrins for a talented SG to replace Ellis that is less injury prone and more consistent.

They still have a nice sized expiring contracts in Radmanovic and Gadzuric (enough for a max player) in 2010-11 if the new labor agreement is similar to the current one.

For 2010-11 we currently have a starting 5 of Biedrins, Lee, (midlevel exceptiopn SF/Reggie Williams), Ellis and Curry. When I compare that to the 2009-10 roster, I see a lot of improvement in the starting 5. It is a bit hard to judge the starting 5 without knowing what is going to happen at SF, but even if we only manage a middle of the road starting SF with the exception, we’re in good shape. If we manage to deal Ellis for value we’re in even better shape.

I think next year will see an uptick in talent. Whether that translates to more wins is up to the (new?) coach.

I love the trade. Potential just means you haven’t done anything yet. And the way Randolph looks to me in his demeanor suggest he won’t get to where we all think he can be. The only way Randolph reaches all-star potential is on another team. It’s highly unlikely he develops with the Warriors. As far as David Lee’s defense, it’s better than you think. The problem with Warrior defense, is in the coach. Specifically Nelson doesn’t know how to help his players be better defenders. Biedrins and Lee both have good feet, it’s a matter of coaching them to have better footwork and recognization. The problem is Nelson doesn’t know defensive footwork or recognization thus he can’t teach it. A new coach will fix the defensive problems in one season guaranteed. Because Biedrins and Lee show they are willing to give effort, it’s the knowledge they lack. (Lee didn’t have knowledge on defense either cause D’Antoni is just as useless coaching defense as Nelson is)

ok, you have to be an idiot i dont know how you got into the sports writing game but someone needs to take you out, this has to be the best thing to happen to the warriors since baron davis. David lee is a beast on offense and can play defense as well. turry and buke had to be some of the worst free agent signings because of all the money we threw at them and they do not produce, they are NOT all stars and will never be. Randolph wanted out at the beginning of the season and was hitting night clubs while he was injured, him leaving is the best possible situation for the warriors. And now for the eastern european trash formerly known as biedrens, this guy with the money he is getting should have been an all star already, i dont know how anyone can defend spending that much money for 9 pts 5 boards and 2 blocks along with 3 fouls a game……… WAKE UP the warriors are making the right moves

You have to be kidding me… Not saying that Randolph is going to be a star, but at WORST hold on to him and try to package him later in a deal with Monta for a REAL impact player. And on top of that, you package him with the few guys on our team who actually played defense? G-R-E-A-T… will now average 120 per game and give up 130!!! Now that’s warriors basketball.

I don’t understand the direction the current/former regime is taking us. Almost all trades the past several years have seemed like salary dumps (crawford, sjax, maggette) or trades so we can build for the future. and then we go and undo all of the past work with this trade. We get rid of a piece who the REST OF THE F*****N NBA sees as having SUPERSTAR POTENTIAL for david lee? Look, I love Lee, in fact if it was any one else except for Randolph and Curry I would be ecstatic they traded for him. Trade Biedrins, Wright, Udoh, Ellis; it doesn’t matter. I think we should have been building around Randolph and Curry.

Again, I LOVE David Lee. I was telling my coworkers that if he signed with a OKC, they would become a title contender. Bring him to the Warriors ALONGSIDE Randolph, we would have a lot of firepower offensively and defensively. I think Randolph and Lee would work amazingly together. I think Lee has the ability to be a better defender than he is, and Randolph would be able to overshadow any of Lee’s shortcomings.

You do not trade Anthony Randolph. Not working off any advanced metrics (prove me wrong if I’m wrong) but by the “eye test” he reminds me of a young KG, but with the ability to grab the rebound and start the break. KG will be his ceiling (Tyrus Thomas being his basement) but, in my opinion, he would def be closer to his ceiling than his basement. You don’t trade someone with this much potential who is still on their rookie contract. IF that time comes, you can easily put together a sign and trade to get something of value (expirings or other worthy players). To not even try and see what he can bring us is asinine.

It seems as if Cohan has seen the writing on the wall the past 2 years and is trying to stick it to us, the loyal GS Warriors Fans, by ensuring that he screws with us and hurts our future. The dude is still bitter for being boo’ed in front of his son at the all star game. Riley is just his damn pawn.

And to Chris (poster #2):

I liked Biedrins as well. Think he was definitely worth his contract when he signed it. But people are harping on a guy who has been injured the past 2 years is exactly for that reason. He’s been injured. THE. PAST. 2 YEARS. At what point do you stop giving the benefit of the doubt and start considering him injury prone? While I like him, and think that he is still good *IF* he can be healthy, I would easily trade him while is value is somewhat high. I don’t know what I’d trade him for because as I don’t understand the direction the Warriors are going in.

So we just acquired a guy that outrebounded Amare, shot the same from the field as Amare, shot better from the free throw line then Amare, and only averaged 3 less points a game then Amare, and we are paying him 7 million less a year for him and we’re complaining??
A guy that played in more games then Randolph, Turiaf, and Buike combined last year. Buike was a good player, Turiaf was tough, and Randolph never lived up to the hype. Lee is is proven. An all-star and invitee to USA basketball. This guy fits the Warriors system.

I TOTALLY agree with IshWarrior, with the exception of Biedrins. I don’t know why everyone’s harping on a guy that was injured the past 2 years. I almost feel like this is a Webber-Gugliotta trade going on…